Odilon Redon was a French painter and lithographer, born in Bordeaux. show a dramatic range from deep blacks to vivid whites. In such works Redon, like his friends the symbolist writers, strove to give form to ideas, especially his own thoughts, emotions, and dreams. He was also inspired by literature and biology. After 1890 he turned to oils and pastels. His brilliantly colored flowers, landscapes, and literary subjects have a romantic, dreamlike quality, as, for example, Vase of Flowers (1914, Museum of Modern Art, New York City) and Orpheus (1903, Cleveland Museum of Art). Redon is considered a precursor of surrealism.